Water-sensitive fluorophores for moisture content evaluation in hygroscopic polymers

ABSTRACT

A process of utilizing a water-sensitive fluorophore for moisture content evaluation in a hygroscopic polymer includes forming a blend that includes a hygroscopic polymer resin and a water-sensitive fluorophore. The process includes forming pellets having a particular geometry from the blend, determining fluorescence properties of at least one of the pellets, and determining moisture content of at least one of the pellets. The process also includes generating a calibration curve for the particular pellet geometry by correlating the fluorescence properties with the moisture content. The process further includes providing the calibration curve for non-destructive moisture content evaluation of a material derived from the pellets.

BACKGROUND

Hygroscopic polymers, such as nylon polymers, have a high affinity forwater due to polar bonds in such polymers (e.g., polar amide bonds inthe case of nylon polymers). Typically, such polymers may holdapproximately 1.5 to 2 percent of their weight in water. However, thisweight percentage may be substantially higher if the polymer is storedat high humidity or is immersed in water. Controlling the water contentin hygroscopic polymers, such as nylon polymers, is important not onlyduring manufacturing (e.g., via injection molding) but also in the finalarticle of manufacture. Other examples of hygroscopic polymers includeacrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymers, acrylics, polyurethanes,polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT),among others.

Prior to injection molding, resin pellets are dried in order to mitigateproblems associated with the presence of water, such as chaindegradation, decreased molecular weight, and ultimately degradedmechanical properties in the final article of manufacture. Therefore,understanding the moisture content of the resin pellets is important.While drying the resin pellets is important prior to injection molding,the presence of at least some moisture in the final article ofmanufacture may be desirable in some cases (e.g., for toughness and/orflexibility). In hygroscopic polymers, water acts as a plasticizer,spacing out the polymer chains, reducing the glass transitiontemperature, and making the article of manufacture more flexible.Accordingly, after manufacture, a nylon article may be moistureconditioned or allowed to reach its equilibrium moisture content beforebeing used in applications where high loads are generated. Otherwise,brittle fracture of the nylon article may result. Furthermore, dependingon the environment, a nylon article may dry out over time, potentiallyresulting in future failure of the nylon article after field deployment.As such, monitoring of moisture content in the final article after fielddeployment may also be required in order to prevent the possibility offailure as a result of the article drying out (e.g., in a hightemperature and/or low humidity environment).

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment, a process of utilizing a water-sensitivefluorophore for moisture content evaluation in a hygroscopic polymer isdisclosed. The process includes forming a blend that includes ahygroscopic polymer resin and a water-sensitive fluorophore. The processincludes forming pellets having a particular geometry from the blend,determining fluorescence properties of at least one of the pellets, anddetermining moisture content of at least one of the pellets. The processalso includes generating a calibration curve for the particular pelletgeometry by correlating the fluorescence properties with the moisturecontent. The process further includes providing the calibration curvefor non-destructive moisture content evaluation of a material derivedfrom the pellets.

According to another embodiment, a process of utilizing awater-sensitive fluorophore for moisture content evaluation in ahygroscopic polymer is disclosed. The process includes receiving pelletsfrom a pellet manufacturing entity. The pellets are formed from a blendthat includes a hygroscopic polymer resin and a water-sensitivefluorophore. The process also includes receiving a calibration curvefrom the pellet manufacturing entity that correlates fluorescenceproperties of the pellets with moisture content of the pellets. Theprocess further includes measuring fluorescence properties of the driedpellets and utilizing the calibration curve to determine a moisturecontent level of the dried pellets based on the measured fluorescenceproperties of the dried pellets. The process also includes determiningwhether to form the article of manufacture from the dried pellets basedon whether the moisture content level of the dried pellets correspondsto a satisfactory moisture level.

According to another embodiment, a process of utilizing awater-sensitive fluorophore for moisture content evaluation in ahygroscopic polymer is disclosed. The process includes measuringfluorescence properties of an article of manufacture that is deployed toa deployment environment. The article of manufacture is manufacturedfrom pellets that are formed from a blend that includes a hygroscopicpolymer resin and a water-sensitive fluorophore. The process alsoincludes receiving a part-specific calibration curve that correlatesfluorescence properties of the article of manufacture with moisturecontent of the article of manufacture. The process further includesutilizing the part-specific calibration curve to determine a moisturecontent level of the article of manufacture based on the measuredfluorescence properties of the article of manufacture. The process alsoincludes determining whether to perform a corrective action based onwhether the moisture content level of the article of manufacturecorresponds to a satisfactory moisture level.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generallyrepresent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system of utilizing water-sensitivefluorophores with hygroscopic polymers for determining whether amoisture content level is satisfactory, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a system of determining whether amoisture content level of an article of manufacture that includeswater-sensitive fluorophores is satisfactory, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a particular embodiment of a processof utilizing water-sensitive fluorophores with hygroscopic polymers fordetermining whether moisture content level is satisfactory.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a particular embodiment of a processof utilizing water-sensitive fluorophores with hygroscopic polymers fordetermining whether moisture content level is satisfactory.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes water-sensitive fluorophores formoisture content evaluation in hygroscopic polymers. A water sensitivefluorophore may be mixed with a hygroscopic polymer resin to form ablend, and the blend may be used to form pellets. The pellets may beanalyzed to determine fluorescence properties and moisture content forthe particular pellet geometry, which may be used to generate acalibration curve for subsequent non-destructive moisture contentevaluation. In some cases, a part manufacturing entity may utilize thecalibration curve to non-destructively determine moisture content. Forexample, the part manufacturing entity may verify that the pellets (thatinclude the water sensitive fluorophore and the hygroscopic polymer)have been sufficiently dried prior to forming an article of manufacturefrom the pellets (e.g., via injection molding). In some cases, the partmanufacturing entity may analyze the article of manufacture to determinefluorescence properties for the particular part geometry, which may beused to generate a part-specific calibration curve. In some cases, apart monitoring entity may utilize the part-specific calibration curveto non-destructively determine moisture content of the article ofmanufacture after deployment of the article to a deployment environmenthaving a particular set of environmental conditions (e.g., hightemperature and/or low humidity). In the event that the moisture contentof the deployed article is unsatisfactory and may potentially lead tofracture/failure of the field-deployed article, the part monitoringentity may perform a corrective action (e.g., removing/replacing thedeployed article). Thus, the present disclosure describes variousexamples of the utilization of water-sensitive fluorophores withhygroscopic polymers for non-destructive moisture content evaluation.

Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram 100 illustrates an example of a system ofutilizing water-sensitive fluorophores with hygroscopic polymers fordetermining whether a moisture content level is satisfactory, accordingto one embodiment. In the particular embodiment depicted in FIG. 1,dashed lines are used to indicate that a first set of operations may beperformed by a first entity (e.g., a pellet manufacturing entity 102),and a second set of operations may be performed by a second entity(e.g., a part manufacturing entity 104). In the example of FIG. 1, thepellet manufacturing entity 102 performs operations to generate datathat may be utilized by the part manufacturing entity 104 to determinewhether sufficient moisture removal has occurred prior to the formationof an article of manufacture 106 (e.g., prior to an injection moldingoperation). FIG. 1 further illustrates that, after forming the articleof manufacture 106, the part manufacturing entity 104 may performoperations to generate data that may be used to generate a part-specificcalibration curve 190 corresponding to the particular geometry of thearticle of manufacture 106. As illustrated and further described hereinwith respect to FIG. 2, another entity (e.g., a part monitoring entity)may utilize the part-specific calibration curve 190 generated by thepart manufacturing entity 104 to non-destructively monitor the moisturecontent after deployment of the article of manufacture 106.

In the particular embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, a hygroscopic polymerresin 110 is mixed with a water-sensitive fluorophore 112 to form ablend 114. In a particular embodiment, the hygroscopic polymer resin 110may include a nylon resin (e.g., a nylon 6,6 resin). Alternatively oradditionally, the hygroscopic polymer resin 110 may include an ABSpolymer resin, an acrylic resin, a polyurethane resin, a PET resin, or aPBT resin, among other examples. With respect to the water-sensitivefluorophore 112, illustrative examples may include5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (DNSA), 5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-sulfonamide (DNSM), 8-(anilino)naphthalene-1-sulfonic acid(ANSA), or a combination thereof, among other alternatives.

In the example of FIG. 1, the water-sensitive fluorophore 112 iscompounded into the hygroscopic polymer resin 110 using an extruder 118to form pellets 120. It will be appreciated that alternative pelletformation component(s) and/or pellet formation techniques may beutilized in other cases. The pellets 120 formed from the blend 114 havea particular pellet geometry 122. FIG. 1 illustrates that one or moreanalysis components 130 may be utilized to determine one or morefluorescence properties 132 of the pellets 120 having the particulargeometry 122. The fluorescence properties 132 of the pellets 120 mayinclude fluorescence intensity data and/or emission maximum data for aparticular concentration of the water-sensitive fluorophore 112 in theblend 114, among other examples of fluorescence data.

FIG. 1 illustrates that a moisture content 140 of the pellets 120 may bedetermined via Karl Fischer titration. For ease of illustrationpurposes, the determination of the moisture content 140 via Karl Fischertitration is depicted as being performed by one or more Karl Fischertitration components 142. Further, while FIG. 1 illustrates such testingbeing performed on one of the pellets 120, it will be appreciated thatsuch testing may be performed on more than one of the pellets 120.

In the example of FIG. 1, the fluorescence properties 132 determined bythe analysis component(s) 130 and the moisture content 140 determined bythe Karl Fischer titration component(s) 142 may be provided to acomputing device 150. The computing device 150 may generate acalibration curve 152 for the particular pellet geometry 122 bycorrelating the fluorescence properties 132 with the moisture content140. The calibration curve 152 may be stored in a pellet database 154for subsequent use by the part manufacturing entity 104 fornon-destructive verification of sufficient drying of the pellets 120prior to molding the article of manufacture 106, as described furtherherein with respect to FIG. 1.

The bottom of FIG. 1 (delineated by the dashed lines) illustratessubsequent operations performed by the part manufacturing entity 104using the pellets 120 formed by the pellet manufacturing entity 102.Prior to forming the article of manufacture 106 (e.g., by injectionmolding), the part manufacturing entity 104 may utilize one or moremoisture removal components 160 to remove moisture from the pellets 120to form dried pellets 162. After determining that the dried pellets 162have a satisfactory moisture content, the part manufacturing entity 104may utilize one or more molding components 164 to form the article ofmanufacture 106. The bottom of FIG. 1 further illustrates that the partmanufacturing entity 104 may analyze the article of manufacture 106 togenerate a part-specific calibration curve 190 for the article ofmanufacture 106 for subsequent non-destructive monitoring of themoisture content after the article of manufacture 106 has beenfield-deployed.

The part manufacturing entity 104 may utilize one or more analysiscomponents 170 (that may be the same or similar to the analysiscomponent(s) 130 utilized by the pellet manufacturing entity 102) todetermine fluorescence properties 172 of the dried pellets 162. Acomputing device 174 may utilize the calibration curve 152 generated bythe pellet manufacturing entity 102 to determine a moisture content 176of the dried pellets 162 based on the fluorescence properties 172 of thedried pellets 162. The part manufacturing entity 104 may determinewhether the moisture content 176 for the dried pellets 162 issatisfactory prior to utilizing the one or more molding components 164to form the article of manufacture 106. In this case, a satisfactorymoisture content may correspond to a sufficiently low level of moisturein the dried pellets 162 in order to prevent hydrolysis and subsequentembrittlement of the article of manufacture 106 following injectionmolding.

When the moisture content 176 of the dried pellets 172 is satisfactoryfor molding operations (e.g., injection molding operations), the partmanufacturing entity 104 may utilize the molding component(s) 164 toform the article of manufacture 106. When the moisture content 176 ofthe dried pellets 162 is unsatisfactory, the part manufacturing entity104 may perform additional drying operation(s) using the moistureremoval component(s) 160. The analysis component(s) 170 may be utilizedto determine subsequent fluorescence properties after the additionaldrying operation(s), and the operations may be repeated until themeasured fluorescence properties are indicative of a satisfactorymoisture content.

FIG. 1 further illustrates that, after forming the article ofmanufacture 106, the part manufacturing entity 104 may analyze thearticle of manufacture 106 to generate the part-specific calibrationcurve 190 that corresponds to a particular part geometry 180 of thearticle of manufacture 106. While not shown in the example of FIG. 1,after forming the article of manufacture 106 using the moldingcomponent(s) 164, the article of manufacture 106 may be moistureconditioned or allowed to reach its equilibrium moisture content beforeanalyzing the article of manufacture 106 to generate the part-specificcalibration curve 190. Thus, while FIG. 1 illustrates sequentialoperations being performed by the part manufacturing entity 104, it willbe appreciated that additional operation(s) may be performed after themolding the article of manufacture 106 and that there may be a timedelay between the formation of the article of manufacture 106 and thesubsequent analysis of the article of manufacture 106.

FIG. 1 illustrates that the analysis component(s) 170 may be utilized todetermine one or more fluorescence properties 182 of the article ofmanufacture 106 having the particular part geometry 180. To illustrate,the fluorescence properties 182 of the article of manufacture 106 mayinclude fluorescence intensity data and/or emission maximum data, amongother examples of fluorescence data. In the particular embodimentdepicted in FIG. 1, a dashed line is used to indicate that a particulararea of the article of manufacture 106 may be selected for measurementof the fluorescence properties 182. In some cases, as illustrated andfurther described herein with respect to FIG. 2, the particular area maybe identified as a target area for measurement of fluorescenceproperties after the article of manufacture 106 has been field-deployed.

FIG. 1 further illustrates that a moisture content 184 of the article ofmanufacture 106 may be determined via Karl Fischer titration using oneor more Karl Fischer titration component(s) 186. While FIG. 1illustrates such testing being performed on a single article having theparticular part geometry 180, it will be appreciated that such testingmay be performed on multiple articles.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which the fluorescence properties 182determined by the analysis component(s) 170 and the moisture content 184determined by the Karl Fischer titration component(s) 186 may beprovided to the computing device 174 (which may be the same computingdevice that is utilized during the analysis of the dried pellets 162 ora different computing device). The computing device 174 may generate thepart-specific calibration curve 190 for the particular part geometry 180by correlating the fluorescence properties 182 with the moisture content184. The part-specific calibration curve 190 may be stored in a partdatabase 192 for subsequent non-destructive moisture contentverification (e.g., after the article of manufacture 106 has beenfield-deployed, as illustrated and described further herein with respectto FIG. 2).

Thus, FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system of utilizingwater-sensitive fluorophores with hygroscopic polymers for determiningwhether a moisture content level is satisfactory. A pellet manufacturingentity may utilize measured fluorescence properties and moisture contentto generate a calibration curve for a particular pellet geometry.Subsequently, a part manufacturing entity may measure fluorescenceproperties and utilize the calibration curve to non-destructivelydetermine moisture content based on the measured fluorescenceproperties. In the example of FIG. 1, the part manufacturing entity mayperform additional pellet drying operations when a pellet moisturecontent level is considered unsatisfactory for injection molding to forman article of manufacture. FIG. 1 further illustrates that, after thearticle of manufacture has been formed, the part manufacturing entitymay measure fluorescence properties and moisture content of the articleto generate a part-specific calibration curve for a particular partgeometry. As illustrated and further described herein with respect toFIG. 2, a part monitoring entity may utilize the part-specificcalibration curve to non-destructively determine moisture content basedon measured fluorescence properties of a field-deployed article.

Referring to FIG. 2, a diagram 200 illustrates an example of a system ofdetermining whether a moisture content level of an article ofmanufacture that includes water-sensitive fluorophores is satisfactory,according to one embodiment. In a particular embodiment, the article ofmanufacture may correspond to the article of manufacture 106 formed bythe part manufacturing entity 104, as previously described herein withrespect to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 illustrates that the addition of thewater-sensitive fluorophore 112 to the hygroscopic polymer resin 110 mayenable non-destructive testing of moisture content after fielddeployment of the article of manufacture 106.

In FIG. 2, the article of manufacture 106 has been deployed to adeployment environment 202. As an illustrative, non-limiting example,the article of manufacture 106 may include a nylon pull tab (e.g., anylon 6,6 pull tab) for cable management behind a server rack. In thisexample, the article of manufacture 106 may experience high temperatureand/or low humidity conditions as a result of the server exhaust. Insome cases, such environmental conditions may cause the article ofmanufacture 106 to embrittle as a result of moisture removal,potentially resulting in fracture/failure of the article of manufacture106. Accordingly, monitoring the moisture content in the deploymentenvironment 202 in a non-destructive manner may enable an entity (e.g.,a field technician 204 associated with a part monitoring entity) todetermine whether the moisture content in the deployment environment 202is a cause for a potential corrective action (e.g., removal and/orreplacement of the article of manufacture 106).

FIG. 2 illustrates an example in which the field technician 204 mayutilize a computing device 210 that includes or is otherwisecommunicatively coupled to a stimulation component 212 and afluorescence measurement component 214 for non-destructive moisturecontent evaluation in the article of manufacture 106 in the deploymentenvironment 202. The stimulation component 212 (e.g., a laser lighttuned according to the particular fluorescence profile of thewater-sensitive fluorophore 112) may be utilized to stimulate thewater-sensitive fluorophore 112 in the article of manufacture 106. FIG.2 illustrates that stimulation of a particular area of the article ofmanufacture 106 by the stimulation component 212 results in awater-sensitive fluorophore fluorescence area 216. The fluorescencemeasurement component 214 may measure fluorescence properties 220associated with the water-sensitive fluorophore fluorescence area 216.As previously described herein, the dashed lines illustrated in theexample of FIG. 2 may represent a target area for testing to assist thefield technician 204 in obtaining accurate fluorescence data formoisture content determination.

The measured fluorescence properties 220 may be utilized to determine,in a non-destructive manner, a moisture content 222 of the article ofmanufacture 106 in the deployment environment 202. In the particularembodiment depicted in FIG. 2, the field technician 204 may utilize thecomputing device 210 to communicate, via a wireless access point 230 (orother network connection equipment), the fluorescence properties 220 tothe part database 192. As previously described herein, the part-specificcalibration curve 190 generated by the part manufacturing entity 104 maybe stored in the part database 192. FIG. 2 illustrates that thepart-specific calibration curve 190 (stored at the part database 192)may be utilized to determine the moisture content 222 that is associatedwith the particular fluorescence properties 220 as measured for thearticle of manufacture 106 in the deployment environment 202.

In some cases, the field technician 204 may evaluate the moisturecontent 222 to determine whether the moisture content 222 represents asatisfactory moisture level for the article of manufacture 106 in thedeployment environment 202. In other cases, the moisture content 222 maybe automatically compared to a satisfactory moisture content levelstored at the computing device 210 in order to alert the fieldtechnician 204 that a corrective action may be appropriate. As anexample of a corrective action, the field technician 204 may remove thearticle of manufacture 106 from service and/or replace the article ofmanufacture 106 with another article that is known to have asatisfactory moisture level.

In some cases, when the moisture content 222 is considered to besatisfactory for the article of manufacture 106 in the deploymentenvironment 202, the field technician 204 may take no action or mayschedule a subsequent time for moisture content monitoring (e.g., incases where periodic monitoring may be advantageous), among otherpossibilities. In other cases, the field technician 204 may identify thearticle of manufacture 106 as being able to maintain a satisfactorymoisture level in the particular environmental conditions associatedwith the deployment environment 202.

Thus, FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a system of determining whether amoisture content level of an article of manufacture that includes awater-sensitive fluorophore is satisfactory. The ability to monitor themoisture content of a part that is deployed to a particular deploymentenvironment in a non-destructive manner may enable a determination ofwhether the moisture content is satisfactory or is a cause forcorrective action.

Referring to FIG. 3, a flow diagram illustrates an example of a process300 of utilizing water-sensitive fluorophores with hygroscopic polymersfor determining whether moisture content level is satisfactory,according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 illustrates (via a dashed line)that, in some cases, a first set of operations (e.g., operations302-310) may be performed by one entity (e.g., a pellet manufacturingentity, such as the pellet manufacturing entity 102 of FIG. 1), and asecond set of operations (e.g., operations 320-328) may be performed byanother entity (e.g., a part manufacturing entity, such as the partmanufacturing entity 104 of FIG. 1). In other cases, while not shown inthe example of FIG. 3, it will be appreciated that a single entity maymanufacture the pellets and also utilize the pellets to manufacture anarticle from the pellets. Thus, FIG. 3 illustrates one example of theutilization of a water-sensitive fluorophore for non-destructivemoisture content testing of a material (e.g., a pellet) that includes ahygroscopic polymer material (e.g., a nylon material).

The process 300 includes forming a blend that includes a hygroscopicpolymer resin and a water-sensitive fluorophore, at 302. For example,referring to FIG. 1, the hygroscopic polymer resin 110 and thewater-sensitive fluorophore 112 form the blend 114. The hygroscopicpolymer resin 110 may include a nylon resin, an ABS polymer resin, anacrylics resin, a polyurethane resin, a PET resin, or a PBT resin, amongother examples. With respect to the water-sensitive fluorophore 112,illustrative examples may include5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (DNSA),5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-sulfonamide (DNSM), 8-(anilino)naphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANSA), or a combination thereof, amongother alternatives.

The process 300 includes forming pellets having a particular geometryfrom the blend, at 304. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the extruder118 may be used to form the pellets 120 having the particular pelletgeometry 122 from the blend 114.

The process 300 further includes determining fluorescence properties ofthe pellets, at 306. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the analysiscomponent(s) 130 of the pellet manufacturing entity 102 may be utilizedto determine the fluorescence properties 132 of the pellets 120. Forexample, the fluorescence properties 132 of the pellets 120 may includefluorescence intensity data and/or emission maximum data for aparticular concentration of the water-sensitive fluorophore 112 in theblend 114, among other examples.

The process 300 further includes measuring moisture content of a pellet,at 308. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the moisture content 140 of atleast one of the pellets 120 may be determined by Karl Fischer titrationusing the Karl Fischer titration component(s) 142. In the example ofFIG. 1, such moisture content testing is performed on one of the pellets120. In other cases, it will be appreciated that more than one of thepellets 120 may be used in the Karl Fischer titration process.

While FIG. 3 illustrates operations 306 and 308 being performed inparallel, it will be appreciated that the operations 306 and 308 may beperformed in alternative orders, at alternative times, by one or moreother entities (not shown in FIG. 1), or a combination thereof. Toillustrate, in some cases, the pellet manufacturing entity 102 mayselect one or more of the pellets 120 to be sent for moisture contentdetermination using the Karl Fischer titration component(s) 142, thendetermine the fluorescence properties 132 of one or more of theremaining pellets 120. As another example, the pellet manufacturingentity 102 may not have access to the Karl Fischer titrationcomponent(s) 142 and may therefore send one or more of the selectedpellets 120 to another entity (e.g., a testing laboratory) fordetermination of the moisture content 140 for subsequent associationwith the fluorescence properties 132.

FIG. 3 illustrates that, after determining the fluorescence propertiesof the pellets (at 306) and measuring the moisture content of one ormore selected pellets (at 308), the process 300 further includesgenerating a calibration curve for the particular pellet geometry, at310. The calibration curve for the particular pellet geometry may bedetermined by correlating the fluorescence properties with the moisturecontent. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the fluorescence properties132 determined by the analysis component(s) 130 and the moisture content140 determined by the Karl Fischer titration component(s) 142 may beprovided to the computing device 150. The computing device 150 maygenerate the calibration curve 152 for the particular pellet geometry122 by correlating the fluorescence properties 132 with the moisturecontent 140.

Referring to the second set of operations depicted below the dashed linein FIG. 3, the part manufacturing entity may receive the pellets fromthe pellet manufacturing entity after the calibration curve has beengenerated (at 310). For example, referring to FIG. 1, the partmanufacturing entity 104 may receive the pellets 120 from the pelletmanufacturing entity 102 after the pellet manufacturing entity 102 hasgenerated the calibration curve 152 for the pellets 120.

The process 300 includes drying the pellets, at 320. For example,referring to FIG. 1, the part manufacturing entity 104 may utilize themoisture removal component(s) 160 to form the dried pellets 162 from thepellets 120.

The process 300 includes measuring the fluorescence properties of thedried pellets, at 322. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the partmanufacturing entity 104 may utilize the analysis component(s) 170 todetermine fluorescence properties 172 of the dried pellets 162.

The process 300 includes utilizing the calibration curve (generated inoperation 310) to determine moisture level of the dried pellets based onthe measured fluorescence properties, at 324. For example, referring toFIG. 1, the calibration curve 152 generated by the pellet manufacturingentity 102 may be utilized to determine the moisture content 176 of thedried pellets 162 based on the fluorescence properties 172 measured bythe analysis component(s) 170 of the part manufacturing entity 104. Inthe particular embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, where one set ofoperations is performed by one entity and another set of operations isperformed by another entity, a dashed line is used to represent that thecalibration curve is available to both entities. In some cases, thepellet manufacturing entity (e.g., the pellet manufacturing entity 102of FIG. 1) may provide the calibration curve to the part manufacturingentity (e.g., the part manufacturing entity 104 of FIG. 1) along withthe pellets. In other cases, the calibration curve may be otherwiseaccessible to the part manufacturing entity, such as via network accessto the pellet database 154 depicted in FIG. 1.

The process 300 further includes determining whether the moisture levelof the dried pellets is satisfactory, at 326. For example, referring toFIG. 1, prior to forming the article of manufacture 106 (e.g., viainjection molding), the part manufacturing entity 104 may determinewhether the moisture content 176 of the dried pellets 162 issatisfactory. In the event that the moisture content is unsatisfactory,FIG. 3 illustrates that the process 300 may include performing anadditional pellet drying operation, at 320. For example, referring toFIG. 1, when the moisture content 176 is determined to be unsatisfactoryfor injection molding, the part manufacturing entity 104 may performadditional pellet drying operation(s) using the moisture removalcomponent(s) 160. After performing the additional pellet dryingoperation(s), the process 300 may include performing an additionalmeasurement of the fluorescence properties, at 322, and utilizing thecalibration curve to determine moisture level based on the additionalmeasurement of the fluorescence properties, at 324. The process 300 mayiterate until the dried pellets are determined to have a satisfactorymoisture level for forming the article of manufacture 106 (e.g., viainjection molding).

When the moisture level is determined to be satisfactory, at 326, FIG. 3illustrates that the process 300 may include manufacturing an articlefrom the dried pellets, at 328. For example, referring to FIG. 1, thepart manufacturing entity 104 may utilize the molding component(s) 164to form the article of manufacture 106. As an illustrative, non-limitingexample, the article of manufacture 106 may include a nylon pull tab(e.g., a nylon 6,6 pull tab) for cable management behind a server rack(as depicted in the example deployment environment 202 of FIG. 2).

Thus, FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a process of utilizing awater-sensitive fluorophore with a hygroscopic polymer for determiningwhether a moisture content level is satisfactory. FIG. 3 illustrates afirst example of non-destructive moisture content determination in whicha part manufacturing entity uses the calibration curve generated by thepellet manufacturing entity to determine whether the pellets have beensufficiently dried prior to injection molding. As further describedherein, FIG. 4 illustrates a second example of non-destructive moisturecontent determination in which a part monitoring entity uses apart-specific calibration curve generated by the part manufacturingentity to determine whether a moisture level of an article that isdeployed in a particular environment is satisfactory or that acorrective action may be required (e.g., removal/replacement of thearticle from the field).

Referring to FIG. 4, a flow diagram illustrates an example of a process400 of utilizing water-sensitive fluorophores with hygroscopic polymersfor determining whether moisture content level is satisfactory,according to one embodiment. FIG. 4 illustrates (via a dashed line)that, in some cases, a first set of operations (e.g., operations 328 and402-408) may be performed by one entity (e.g., a part manufacturingentity, such as the part manufacturing entity 104 of FIG. 1), and asecond set of operations (e.g., operations 410-420) may be performed byanother entity (e.g., a part monitoring entity, as described furtherherein with respect to FIG. 2. In other cases, while not shown in theexample of FIG. 4, it will be appreciated that a single entity maymanufacture the parts and also monitor the parts after field-deployment.Thus, FIG. 4 illustrates another example of the utilization of awater-sensitive fluorophore for non-destructive moisture content testingof a material (e.g., a deployed part) that includes a hygroscopicpolymer material (e.g., a nylon material).

In the particular embodiment depicted in FIG. 4, selected operationsperformed by a part manufacturing entity have been omitted. For example,with respect to the second set of operations depicted in FIG. 3, FIG. 4illustrates only operation 328 from FIG. 3, representing the lastoperation performed by the part manufacturing entity (e.g., the partmanufacturing entity 104 of FIG. 1).

Referring to the portion of FIG. 4 below the dashed line delineating thepart monitoring entity from the part manufacturing entity, the processincludes performing moisture conditioning operation(s) on the articleand/or allowing the article to reach an equilibrium moisture content, at402. For example, referring to FIG. 1, after forming the article ofmanufacture 106 (e.g., via injection molding, the part manufacturingentity 104 may perform moisture conditioning operation(s) on the article106 and/or allow the article 106 to reach an equilibrium moisturecontent. As described further herein, while drying the pellets 120 isimportant for injection molding, the presence of at least some moisturein the article of manufacture 106 may be desirable (e.g., for toughnessand/or flexibility) before the article 106 is deployed in order toreduce the likelihood of brittle fracture in some deploymentenvironments (e.g., the deployment environment 202 depicted in FIG. 2).

The process 400 includes determining fluorescence properties of thearticle, at 404. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the analysiscomponent(s) 170 of the part manufacturing entity 104 may be utilized todetermine the fluorescence properties 182 of the article of manufacture106. For example, the fluorescence properties 182 of the article 106 mayinclude fluorescence intensity data and/or emission maximum data, amongother examples.

The process 400 further includes measuring moisture content of thearticle, at 406. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the partmanufacturing entity 104 may determine the moisture content 184 of thearticle of manufacture 106 by Karl Fischer titration using the KarlFischer titration component(s) 186. Such destructive moisture contenttesting may be performed on at least one article of manufacture 106formed using the molding component(s) 164.

While FIG. 4 illustrates operations 404 and 406 being performed inparallel, it will be appreciated that the operations 404 and 406 may beperformed in alternative orders, at alternative times, by one or moreother entities (not shown in FIG. 1), or a combination thereof. Toillustrate, in some cases, the part manufacturing entity 104 may firstdetermine the fluorescence properties 182 of the article of manufacture106, then perform destructive moisture content testing on a sacrificialarticle 106 using the Karl Fischer titration component(s) 186. In othercases, the fluorescence properties may be determined for one or morearticles, and another sacrificial article (or multiple articles) may besent for destructive moisture content testing using the Karl Fischertitration component(s) 186. As another example, while not shown in theembodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the part manufacturing entity 104 may nothave access to equipment for performing a Karl Fischer titration processon the article of manufacture 106 and may therefore send the article 106to another entity (e.g., a testing laboratory) for determination of themoisture content 184 for subsequent association with the fluorescenceproperties 182.

FIG. 4 illustrates that, after determining the fluorescence propertiesof the article (at 404) and measuring the moisture content of thearticle (at 406), the process 400 further includes generating apart-specific calibration curve for the particular part geometry, at408. The part-specific calibration curve for the particular partgeometry may be determined by correlating the fluorescence propertieswith the moisture content. For example, referring to FIG. 1, thefluorescence properties 182 determined by the analysis component(s) 170and the moisture content 184 determined by the Karl Fischer titrationcomponent(s) 186 may be provided to the computing device 174 of the partmanufacturing entity 104. The computing device 174 may generate thepart-specific calibration curve 190 for the particular part geometry 180by correlating the fluorescence properties 182 with the moisture content184.

Referring to the second set of operations depicted above the dashed linein FIG. 4, the part monitoring entity may receive the article ofmanufacture from the part manufacturing entity after the part-specificcalibration curve has been generated (at 408). For example, referring toFIG. 1, the part manufacturing entity 104 may provide the article ofmanufacture 106 to another entity for field deployment after generatingthe part-specific calibration curve 190.

The process 400 includes deploying the article of manufacture, at 410.For example, referring to FIG. 2, the article of manufacture 106 of FIG.1 may be deployed in the deployment environment 202 where the article106 is exposed to a particular set of environmental conditions. As anillustrative, non-limiting example, the article of manufacture 106 mayinclude a nylon pull tab (e.g., a nylon 6,6 pull tab) for cablemanagement, and the deployment environment 202 may correspond to an areabehind a server rack. In this example, the article of manufacture 106may experience high temperature and/or low humidity as a result of theserver exhaust. In some cases, such environmental conditions may causethe article of manufacture 106 to embrittle as a result of moistureremoval, potentially resulting in fracture/failure of the article ofmanufacture 106.

The process 400 includes measuring the fluorescence properties of thearticle, at 412. For example, referring to FIG. 2, the stimulationcomponent 212 may be utilized to excite the water-sensitive fluorophore112 in the water-sensitive fluorophore fluorescence area 216. Thefluorescence measurement component 214 may collect the fluorescenceproperties 220 for the article of manufacture 106. As described furtherherein with respect to FIG. 2, the stimulation component 212 and thefluorescence measurement component 214 may be included within orotherwise communicatively coupled to the computing device 210. Thecomputing device 210 may be utilized by the field technician 204 fornon-destructive moisture content determination in the article ofmanufacture 106 in the deployment environment 202.

The process 400 includes utilizing the part-specific calibration curveto monitor the moisture content of the article based on the fluorescenceproperties, at 414. For example, in the particular embodiment depictedin FIG. 2, the measured fluorescence properties 220 for thefield-deployed article of manufacture 106 may be used to query the partdatabase 192 of FIG. 1. As described herein with respect to FIG. 1, thepart database 192 stores the part-specific calibration curve 190, whichmay be utilized to determine the moisture content 222 based on thefluorescence properties 220 for the article of manufacture 106 in thedeployment environment 202.

In the particular embodiment depicted in FIG. 4, where differentoperations are performed by different entities, a dashed line is used torepresent that the part-specific calibration curve is available to thepart monitoring entity. In some cases, the part manufacturing entity mayprovide the part-specific calibration curve to the part monitoringentity along with the article of manufacture. In other cases, thepart-specific calibration curve may be otherwise accessible to the partmonitoring entity, such as via network access to the part database 192,as shown in the example embodiment of FIG. 2.

The process 400 further includes determining whether the moisture levelof the deployed article is satisfactory, at 416. In the event that themoisture level is unsatisfactory, FIG. 4 illustrates that the process400 may include determining corrective action, at 418. For example,referring to FIG. 2, the field technician 204 may determine whether toremove the article of manufacture 106 from the deployment environment202, to replace the deployed article of manufacture 106 with an articlethat is known to have a satisfactory moisture level, or performadditional and/or alternative corrective actions.

In the event that the moisture level is determined to be satisfactory,at 416, FIG. 4 illustrates a particular embodiment in which the process400 further includes scheduling a subsequent time for moisture contentmonitoring, at 420. In other cases, the process 400 may end, at 416. Forexample, after deployment of the article into an environment having aparticular set of environmental conditions that may be relatively stable(e.g., in a data center environment), it may be appropriate to inferthat there is a low risk of part failure when the moisture content levelof the article is shown to be satisfactory in the environment afterbeing exposed to the particular set of environmental conditions for asufficient period of time.

Thus, FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a process of utilizingwater-sensitive fluorophores with hygroscopic polymers for determiningwhether moisture content level is satisfactory. FIG. 4 illustratesanother example of non-destructive moisture content determination inwhich a part monitoring entity uses a part-specific calibration curvegenerated by a part manufacturing entity to determine whether a moisturelevel of an article that is deployed in a particular environment issatisfactory or that a corrective action may be required (e.g.,removal/replacement of the article from the field).

It will be understood from the foregoing description that modificationsand changes may be made in various embodiments of the present inventionwithout departing from its true spirit. The descriptions in thisspecification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to beconstrued in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention islimited only by the language of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process of utilizing a water-sensitivefluorophore for moisture content evaluation in a hygroscopic polymer,the process comprising: forming a blend that includes a hygroscopicpolymer resin and a water-sensitive fluorophore; forming pellets havinga particular geometry from the blend; determining fluorescenceproperties of at least one of the pellets; determining, in parallel withdetermining the fluorescence properties, moisture content of at leastone of the pellets; generating a calibration curve for the particularpellet geometry by correlating the fluorescence properties with themoisture content; and storing the calibration curve in a pellet databasefor subsequent use for non-destructive verification of sufficient dryingof the pellets and accessible via a network by a part manufacturingentity.
 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the water-sensitivefluorophore is compounded into the hygroscopic polymer using an extruderto form the pellets.
 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the hygroscopicpolymer resin includes a nylon resin.
 4. The process of claim 1, whereinthe moisture content of at least one of the pellets is determined byKarl Fischer titration.
 5. A process of utilizing a water-sensitivefluorophore for moisture content evaluation in a hygroscopic polymer,the process comprising: receiving, from a pellet manufacturing entity,pellets that are formed from a blend that includes a hygroscopic polymerresin and a water-sensitive fluorophore; receiving, from a pelletdatabase, a calibration curve that correlates fluorescence properties ofthe pellets with moisture content of the pellets, wherein thefluorescence properties and the moisture content are determined inparallel; forming dried pellets by removing moisture from the pelletsprior to forming an article of manufacture from the dried pellets;measuring fluorescence properties of the dried pellets; utilizing thecalibration curve to determine a moisture content level of the driedpellets based on the measured fluorescence properties of the driedpellets; determining whether to form the article of manufacture from thedried pellets based on whether the moisture content level of the driedpellets corresponds to a satisfactory moisture level; performing anadditional drying operation to remove additional moisture from the driedpellets when the moisture content level of the dried pellets correspondsto an unsatisfactory moisture level; and repeating the drying operationuntil moisture content level of the dried pellets corresponds to asatisfactory moisture level.
 6. The process of claim 5, furthercomprising: forming the article of manufacture from the dried pelletswhen the moisture content level of the dried pellets corresponds to thesatisfactory level, the article of manufacture having a particular partgeometry.
 7. The process of claim 6, further comprising: Performing oneor more moisture conditioning operations on the article of manufacture,allowing the article of manufacture to reach an equilibrium moisturecontent.
 8. The process of claim 6, further comprising: identifying atarget area for measurement of the fluorescence properties on thearticle of manufacture.
 9. The process of claim 6, further comprising:determining fluorescence properties of the article of manufacture;determining moisture content of the article of manufacture; andgenerating a part-specific calibration curve for the particular partgeometry by correlating the fluorescence properties of the article ofmanufacture with the moisture content of the article of manufacture. 10.The process of claim 9, further comprising: performing a destructivemoisture content test on the article of manufacture using a Karl Fischertitration component.
 11. The process of claim 9, further comprising:providing the part-specific calibration curve to a part database forsubsequent non-destructive moisture content verification.
 12. A processof utilizing a water-sensitive fluorophore for moisture contentevaluation in a hygroscopic polymer, the process comprising: measuringfluorescence properties of an article of manufacture that is deployed toa deployment environment by, wherein the article of manufacture ismanufactured from pellets that are formed from a blend that includes ahygroscopic polymer resin and a water-sensitive fluorophore, wherein atarget area on the article of manufacture is used measuring thefluorescence properties; receiving a part-specific calibration curvethat correlates fluorescence properties of the article of manufacturewith moisture content of the article of manufacture from a partdatabase; utilizing the part-specific calibration curve to determine amoisture content level of the article of manufacture based on themeasured fluorescence properties of the article of manufacture;determining whether to perform a corrective action based on whether themoisture content level corresponds to a satisfactory moisture level; andreplacing the article of manufacture based on the determination of themoisture content level corresponding to an unsatisfactory moisturelevel.
 13. The process of claim 12, wherein the fluorescence propertiesare measured by stimulating the article of manufacture with a laserlight tuned according a particular fluorescence profile of thewater-sensitive fluorophore.
 14. The process of claim 12, wherein acomputing device is utilized to communicate with the part database via awireless access point.
 15. The process of claim 12, wherein the moisturecontent level is automatically compared to a satisfactory moisturecontent level stored at a computing device.
 16. The process of claim 12,further comprising: scheduling a subsequent time for measuring thearticle of manufacture.